The Readings
Old Testament
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Gospel
Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The Sermon
This is Christ the
King Sunday. It is a fairly new event in the Christian calendar. It
was created by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Some say the reason for its
creation was that Pope Pius was concerned about increased secularism
after the first world war. It was soon adopted by the other
denominations and placed at the end of the church year. It is a
reminder to us that Christ and his message of love and hope should
rule our lives.
Our readings today
reflect that message of serving God in all that we do and keeping
ourselves mindful of the importance of caring for humanity. In
Ezekiel we are told that God searches for his sheep and he will
separate them from those who took advantage of those who were weak.
He will save His flock from those who ravaged them.
In the Gospel
reading, Matthew tells us in colorful language that the chosen will
be placed at his right hand which in biblical times was considered a
place of honor. Matthew 25 is remembered especially for the clear
message that if you feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty,
welcome the stranger, visit the sick and those imprisoned you have
done all of those things to him.
Jesus is telling us
to feel empathy and love for all of God's people. Those people are
us because we are part of humanity. Jesus also tells us there are
consequences for not sharing our blessings with others. Some of the
most generous people I know are people who have practically nothing.
There is a lady who collects old Christmas cards during the Christmas
season. She cuts off the side that has been written on and then
writes a poem on the remaining side. She goes from place to place
and hands out her personalized cards to people in our community. She
also collects paper back books at garage sales and brings them to the
food pantry as a free gift for the people who come there.
She lives in poverty
but I believe God sees her as one of the wealthiest people on the
planet. She is rich in her love for all of those around her. She
experiences great joy in doing these things. Her joy will also be in
heaven.
Amen
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